photography and musings on cemeteries, memorials, and other monuments

Month

November 2017

Generally speaking, most cemeteries in Japan are attached to Buddhist temples, as most people have a Buddhist funeral after they die. I never really think of shrines, which usually deal with “new” things (birth, marriage, new year, etc) as places where one might find a cemetery, but I Continue reading “Site 85: Kyoto’s Takenaka Inari Shrine”→

Just north of Kurodani lies another temple famous for it’s autumn leaves: Shinnyo-do Temple. This is another temple that most tourists seem to miss, which is a shame, since the grounds are beautiful, especially in mid- to late-November when the leaves are at their peak. In fact, this Continue reading “Site 84: Kyoto’s Shinnyo-do Temple Cemetery”→

I like going for walks and exploring different neighbourhoods, but I often return to the same places time and again. Which often leads me to explore lesser known areas, which is how I stumbled across Kurodani Temple, just north of Heian Shrine and a bit west Continue reading “Site 83: Kyoto’s Kurodani Temple Cemetery”→

In the heart of the Gangnam district of Seoul lies a World Heritage Site, Seonjeongneung. It’s the burial place of two kings and one queen. The oldest tomb belongs to King Seongjong (d. 1494). His queen (and second wife) Jeonghyeon (d. 1530) outlived him by many decades, but Continue reading “Site 82: Seoul’s Seonjeongneung”→

As you leave the Foreign Missionary Cemetery and walk south, you soon come across a visually arresting set of stairs. At least, they were to me. It may have been the slight drizzle, or the way the light played across the stairs, and for all their practical use (stairs and ramps), I thought they were Continue reading “Site 81: Seoul’s Jeoldu-san Martyr’s Shrine”→

On my first full day in Seoul I was intending to go on a tour to the DMZ, a place that had always been on my bucket list. Unfortunately I forgot my passport back at the hotel, and no passport meant no tour, which was disappointing. So I decided not to let the fine day go to waste, Continue reading “Site 80: Seoul’s Foreign Missionary Cemetery”→